Swimming shoes



Oct. 22, 1963 BROWN ETAL I 3,107,372

SWIMMING SHOES Filed July 9, 1962 1) l I /0 5 H INVENTORS.

AROLD BROWN 4 4 H/mozo S. Turr MoRR/s KAPm/v ATTORNEY 3,107,372 SWIMMINGSHGES Hamid Brown, 2236 S. Milwaukee St., Denver 10, (3010.; Harold F.Tuft, 1755 Gilpin St., Denver 8, Colo.; and Morris Kaplan, 3705 E.Colfax Ave, Denver 6, Colo.

Fiied July 9, 1962, Ser. No. 208,313 4 Qiairns. {CL 9-309) Thisinvention relates to a Swimming shoe and has for its principal objectthe provision of a shoe to be worn by a swimmer which will act to give agreater purchase on the water so as to increase the speed and decreasethe effort required of the swimmer.

The improved shoe is more particularly designed for use by swimmersusing the Australian crawl type of leg stroke. In this type of stroke,the legs are alternately bent at the knee to swing the feet upwardly andforwardly with the heel and sole of the foot foremost. The legs are thenstraightened to kick the foot rearwardly with the top of the footexerting a paddle-like action on the water to drive the swimmerforwardly. Another object of the invention is to provide a swimming shoewhich will fold to provide minimum water resistance when the sole of thefoot is swung upwardly and forwardly and a maximum resistance when thetop of the foot is kicked or swung rearwardly and downwardly against thewater to facilitate swimming the above described crawl stroke.

A further object is to provide a swimming shoe which will increase the:swimmers efficiency when swimming and which will not interfere withnormal walking on the bottom of the beach.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction ofthe invention which is designed for simplicity, economy, andelficien-cy. These will become more apparent from the followingdescription.

in the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved swimming shoe;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken on the line 3-3, FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the shoe; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlargement of a portion of the section of FIG.3.

The improved shoe comprises an elongated, substantially flat, sole platehaving two, normally upturned side flaps 11 and 12 hingedly mountedalong its two longitudinal side edges. The side flaps 11 and 12 areconstantly urged upwardly and inwardly toward each other by an elasticfront band 13 and an elastic rear band 14. The bands 13 and 14 areformed from rubber or similar elastic material and are cemented,vulcanized, or otherwise attached to the side flaps. The normal lengthof the straps 13 and 14 is such that when fully contracted they willretain the side flaps in a substantially vertical slightly flaringposition, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The sole plate 10 and the side flaps 11 and 12 are com- Patented Oct.22, 1963 permanently attached to the upper surface of the sole plate 10for receiving the foot of the swimmer. A restraining strap 21? isprovided on the heel socket to be passed over the instep of the foot forretaining the swimming shoe in place.

The sole plate is relatively wider at its toe than at its heel toprovide a flaring front portion. The sole plate and the side flaps arerelatively stiff but are free to flex when walking or swimming. Thestiffness of the toe extremity of the sole plate is increased by moldinglongiudinally extending stiffening ribs thereon.

Let us assume that. the above described shoes are in place on the feetof a swimmer and that a crawl stroke is being executed, that is, thefeet are being swung upwardly and forwardly sole foremost then kickedrapidly downwardly and rearwardly to obtain forward thrust. Each timethe sole of a foot swings forwardly the side flaps will fold tightlyagainst the sides of the foot to create a minimum of resistance and eachtime the top of the foot is moved rearwardly in the power stroke theside flaps will open outwardly to increase the reaction of the stroke.

While the improved shoes are more particularly designed to increase theresistance when the top of the foot is moved rearwardly against thewater, they also serve to increase the size of the sole of the foot soas to give added advantage on strokes in which the sole of the foot ismoved against the water. In the latter case, however, the side flapshave no propelling effect.

While a specific form of the invention has been described andillustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be variedwithin the scope of the appended claims, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A swimming shoe comprising: an elongated sole plate; a side flaphinged to each longitudinal edge of said sole plate; means for holding aswimmers foot in place on the top of said sole plate; and resilientmeans constantly urging said side flaps upwardly from said sole plate topositions above the plane of said sole plate and at each side of saidfoot during the process of swimming.

2. A swimming shoe as described in claim 1 in which the resilient meanscomprises an elastic stretchable tie member permanently secured at itsextremities to said side flaps and extending over and above said footholding means.

3. A swimming shoe as described in claim 2 having a second elasticstretchable member positioned rearwardly of the heel of the user andextending between said side flaps.

4. A swimming shoe as described in claim 3 in which stiffening layersare positioned in said sole plate and said side flaps, said layers beingrubber covered, the rubber covering forming the hinges between said soleplate and said side flaps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,821,974 Leblanc Sept. 8, 1931 1,983,609 Hudson Dec. 11, 1934 2,094,532Glad Sept. 28, 1937.

2,779,077 Kline Jan. 29, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 380,854 France Oct. 22,1907 519,956 Great Britain Apr. 10, 1940

1. A SWIMMING SHOE COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED SOLE PLATE; A SIDE FLAPHINGED TO EACH LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF SAID SOLE PLATE; MEANS FOR HOLDING ASWIMMER''S FOOT IN PLACE ON THE TOP OF SAID SOLE PLATE; AND RESILIENTMEANS CONSTANTLY URGING SAID SIDE FLAPS UPWARDLY FROM SAID SOLE PLATE TOPOSITIONS ABOVE THE PLANE OF SAID SOLE PLATE AND AT EACH SIDE OF SAIDFOOT DURING THE PROCESS OF SWIMMING.